Weed guarded fish lure



Nov. 2, 1943. c HEDDON 2,333,174

WEED GUARDED FISH LURE Original Filed May 13, 1941 Didi/455D,

Patented Nov. 2, 1943 WEEDGUARDED FISHLURE Charles Heddon, deceased,late of Dowagiac, Mich, by John Heddon, executor, St. Joseph, Mich,assigncf to James Heddons Sons, Dowagiac, Mich., a corporation ofMichigan Original application May 13, 1941, Serial No. 393,205. Dividedand this application April 15,

1942, Serial No. 439,045

4 Claims.

of the specific type shown inthe McArthur pat-' ent, No. 2,270,070,dated JanuarylB, 1942, but in the case of the usual plug baits, themeans provided for guarding the bait as a whole is inadequate, ,in thatcertain portions of the entire' bait afford outstanding obstructionswhich are likely to become befouled by weedsor the like, so that itbecomes impossible to use a plug bait body in heavily weeded waterswhich game fish are most often accustomed to inhabit, so that it becomesessential to make provision for weed guarding the entire bait and notmerely certain portions thereof.

The object of the present invention, therefore, is to provide a ,lurewhich in its entirety will afford deflecting means for spreading oropening up' an unobstructed path through a weed bed so that no portionof the entire lure will afford points of lodgment for the weeds, andthis without impairing the efiectiveness of the lure in hooking fishwhich strike the bait body.

In designingthe lure of the present invention account is also taken ofthe fact that, whether the fish strikes from the side or from behind,three triangularly spaced points of resistance for the fishs jaws willbe afforded by the bait body in conjunction with thelaterally anddownwardly projecting hook points, so that in. closing its jaws upon thebait body the weed guarding elements will yield to permit the hookpoints to be driven into the flesh, thereby hooking the fish on thestrike itself rather than by a jerk on the line imparted through therod.

As to the form of the bait body and-the arrangement of the hooks, it ispreferred to employ the body and hook arrangement shown and described ina co-pending application of the late Charles Heddon, Serial No. 359,711,filed October 4, 1940, with a leader of the character employed in theMcArthur patent application aforesaid, but in neither of the devicesshown in these respective applications is provision made for the weedguarding of the lure as a whole, so that it becomes essential to employthe respective devices in combination in order to fully attain the weedguarding effect provided for by the lure of the present invention. Thefeatures that are special to this invention are disclosed in the pendingapplication of the late Charles Heddon, filed May 13, 1941, Serial No.393,205, of which this application is a division.

It will be understood that it is not the intention, however, to limitthe present invention tothe combined use of the specific features abovementioned, since the principles embodied in the present invention mayfind exemplification in the, specifically different forms ofconstruction.

Further objects and details will appear from the description of theinvention in conjunction with the accompanying drawing, wherein Figure 1is a side elevation of a fish lure embodying the features of the presentinvention; and

Fig. 2 is lure.

1 The lure comprises a plug bait body In of the conventional ovateformation, which trails behind a leader H which is flexibly linked atits rear end to an eye l2 extending from a point beneath the nose l3 ofthe bait body. The leader II, in the form shown, is bent upwardly nearits rear end to afford an elbow or hump M which, when the lure is beingtrailed through the water, will ordinarily standin sufficiently elevatedrelation to the nose or tip of the body ID to deflect weeds or otherobstructions upwardly and over the smooth sloping surface of the body,so that the same will not be caught and lodged in the space between theleader and the nose or tip of the body.

While for purposes of illustration the leader is shown as being formedof a section of .wire angularly bent to afiord the hump in question, itwill be understood that an equivalent configuraticn, aifording a hump ofsimilar character and disposed in such a way as to subserve the dea viewshowing the under side of the flecting function, may be employed in lieuof the bent wire herein illustrated.

The leader at its forward end terminates in an elongated eye 15 whichaffords a line tie and is preferably tapered toward its forward end toreduce to a minimum the possibility of lodgment of fine Weeds or grassat the tip end of the leader.

' The body is provided at its forward end with a lip or chin piece I6 ofconventional character, which extends downwardly and forwardly from thetip of the body and is secured thereto by screws l1 entered throughprongs Ill. The body in the preferred form shown is provided with twinhooks IS, the shanks 20 of which extend in closely adjacent parallelrelation beneath the body erally and downwardly from the body so thatthe hook points will present themselves -in unyield-- ing relation tothe bait body atalltim'e's, and a fishs jaws, striking into the baitbody, will necessarily force one or both of the hook points into theflesh by the heavy impact of'the' strike and without further eifort onthe part of the fisherman to set the hooks. With the hook points thusimmovably, fixed, they are adequately guarded by suitable means designedto afford prote'ction' to the .bait asa whole, including .the

leader." I v v The under side of the bait as a wholeis guarded byresi1ient-prongs-24 which'converge toward their forward ends and aresecured to --the forwar'diend of the leader by means of a clip orwinding 25, or by soldering to afford a rigid connectionfat this' point;The prongs diverge from front to rear, and their tip ends 26 normallylie in close proximityto the hook points 23. The prongs are bowedvdownvvarolly to aiforda clearance'forithe chin piece [5, which permitsthe bait body to. swivelupon the free connection at the .rear end of theleader, so that the normaldarting', swinging and diving movements of thebait body are unimpeded bythe presence of. the Weed "guarding prongs.The prongs are preferably made of light resilient wire so that. theywill yield under the impact of a fishsstrike to expose the hooks-to thejaws of the fish;

Various modifications in the shape andar-- rangement of the weedguarding members may be made without departing. from the spirit-oi theinvention, which resides in the employmentof. weed guarding means ofadequate character which diverge from a point in advance of the body ofthe lure and provide for the protection throughout the entire lure of.all protruding portionsthereof which might otherwise'afiord obstructionsfo'rthe accumulation of weeds or the lik'e'jandat the same time affordthe necessary resiliency to yield under. the strike of a fish.

It is desirable to connect the forward convergent ends of the guardwires to the leader at a point well in advance of the chin piece i5,since experiments-have shown that where weed guarding wires are mountedtoo close to the chin piece or similar element which develops a swimmingaction, the guard wires will more or less sericomplete protectionagainst befouling at all points, without, however, interfering in anyway with the normal intended movement of the bait and withoutinterfering with theefiectiveness of the bait in hooking the fish on astrike.

The following is claimed:

1. In a fish lure, the combination of a plug body provided near itsforward end with a depending chin piece, a leader extending forwardlyfrom the body and freely linked thereto at its rear end,'a hook rigidlysecured to the plug body and having its recurved barbed point projectingaway form the body, and weed guarding prongs securedtc the leader andextending rearwardly and divergently to a position normally adjacent thehook point and adapted to deflect weed away from the body and from thehook.

2. ma fish lure, the combination of a plug body provided near itsforward end with a depending chin piece, a leader extending forwardlyfrom the body and freely linked thereto at its rear end, a hook rigidlysecured to the plug body and having its recurved barbed.point'fprojecting away from the body, and weed guarding prongs securedto the leader near its forward end and extending rearwardly and.divergently to a position normally adjacent the hook point and adaptedto deflect weeds away from thebody'and from the hook." I

:3. In a fish lure, the combination of a plug body provided" near itsforward end with a depending chin piece, a leaderextending forwardlyfrom thebody and freely linked thereto .at its rear end, companion hookshaving their forward ends rigidly secured to the under side of the bodyand having their recurved barbed pointed ends spaced from one anotherand extending oppositely outwardly from the body, and "resilient weedguarding prongs having their forward ends converging and secured to theleader and ex-' tending divergently therefrom beneath the chin piece andthe plug body and having their rear ends lying normally adjacent thehook points and adapted to deflect weeds away from the'body andfr'om'the hooks. V

' 4.'In a fish lure, the combination' of 'a plug body provided near itsforward end with a depending chinpiece, a leader extending forwardlyfrom the body and freely linked thereto at its rear 'end,'companionhooks having their forward ends rigidly secured to the under side of thebody and having their recurvedbarbed pointed ends spaced from oneanother and extending oppositely outwardly from the body,'and.resilientweed guarding prongs having their forward ends converging and secured tothe forward portion ously interfere with theaction of the bait bydisturbing the water immediately in front thereof. The structure asawhole is one which provides of the leader and extending divergentlytherefrom beneath the chin piece and the plug ,body and having theirrear ends lying normally. adjacent the hook points and adapted todeflect weeds away'from. the body and from the hooks.

. JOHNI-IEDDON, Executor of the Estate of Charles Heddon, De-

ceased. l

